How do I get started? How do I provide a good environment?

[my3peanuts]

My dd will be entering kindergarten next year and we'd like to homeschool her. Well, I would anyway, and I'm working on dh!

However, I don't really know where to start. I don't know what we'll need, what she needs to learn, what curriculum to use, etc.

I like a literature based approach but I think she'd get bored with just literature so I guess I'm looking for a combination of literature and something else she can DO, if that makes sense. I'm not opposed to worksheets or workbooks but don't want something heavily structured.

I guess my biggest concern is that I don't know that I feel equipped to school her. I'm worried she won't have a stimulating enough environment or that I won't provide enough educationally for her. I don't even know what types of things to provide. I really want her to learn music, appreciate art, etc. but I don't know specifically to provide opportunities for those things. We live in a small town and we don't have museums or even a very large library.

So, if anyone has any advice, suggestions, etc. I'm totally open to hearing them!!

[Mongoose]

Dont worry about not being able to teach. You Can Do it! We also live in a small town. Our "library" is the garage to the town hall ha ha! You just make it work...find local hs groups and the like. Make a trip to the city every once in a while to go to a museum. It is even more special when you have to travel to get there. It really feels like a trip.

As for curriculum...Maybe Five in a Row...not highly structured...lit based...incorperates art, geography, cultural studies, history, lit, science, and applied math.

Then you would need a phonics curriculum of some sort and maybe math if DD is wanting more than the applied math that is offered in Five in A Row (called FIAR on the boards)

We are using FIAR for PreK and then for Kindy we are looking into Galloping the Globe-geography unit study and adding Horizon K math and thinking about Sing Spell Read and Write for phonics instruction. We like loose structure. I like having some ideas to work with, but having the ability to make it work for us not be a slave to it KWIM?

I hope you find something that fits your family!

[my3peanuts]

Thanks, I'll look into that!

I should also mention I'm not opposed to religious based curriculum.

[Lillian J]

You can find lots of ideas in my page on preschool & kindergarten activities - be sure to look beneath the box of article for the list of annotated links to websites that have lots of ideas.

There are a few basic resources I like - for getting oriented without having to get hit with the overwhelm of information and ads that are so common these days. Here's a post that has them listed: getting started

The best approach for getting started, I think, is to not buy anything you actually have a specific need for it. You have all the time in the world to just kick back and have fun with your daughter, being a tour guide to the world for her. Try not to think of her "entering kindergarten" - because she really won't be entering anything if she's not attending a school. She'll just be participating in the world with you and learning from and with you as each thing comes along. She won't need to get programmed for 1st grade entrance, which is the purpose of kindergarten - because she won't be entering 1st grade, but continuing to grow and learn about the world and to pick up the skills she needs for learning and participating fully in the world. It's really not as daunting as it probably seems right now. Do find out what you can do about finding people to do social things with though. Here's a post (from another thread) with links to lists of support groups.

And as for dh, , here's a link to a thread that has links to some really good threads here in MDC in which people have discussed the processes they went through when dealing with skeptical family.

Oh! And here are a couple of books you might really enjoy:
Homeschooling, the Early Years, by Linda Dobson
Learning At Home, A Mother's Guide to Homeschooling, by Marty Layne

Have fun! - Lillian

[Mongoose]

Well FIAR is and isnt religious. It is written by a woman who is religious and they sell a companion book that gives you bible verses that corrilate to the story you are reading....so if you want it to have bible base it can, or you dont have to purchase that portion.

When I decided to go with FIAR I purchased a package deal for about $90 from the publisher. It comes with all 3 V's the bible add on and the laminated story discs. These story discs you use on a map of the world. You stick the disc that corrilates with the story you are reading on the city/country/state where the story takes place.

I almost forgot...does your library have ...crap brain fart! that thing where you can check out books from other libraries and have it shipped to yours? My library doesnt, but I go to the next nearest town's library and they do. Unless you want to buy the books needed for FIAR (which is a lot of $$) you need to have access to the books. If you go on the FIAR publishing site you can look at the list of books for each volume. Some you will have to skip because they are nearly impossible to find, but most you should be able to get your hands on.

Hope that helps

[BunnySlippers]

I have schooling materials with-in easy reach of dd. She is 5 going on 6. I am not a structured person, but I do push a little. I encourage her to get her books out a couple of times a week. Her books are pre-k and K based activity books. We have lower case letters, patterns, mazes, colouring, dot-to-dot, thinking skills, cut and paste. She also has a craft box, flash cards, use of the computer.
As well as the more regular toys like puzzles and playdough.
Right now she is child-led learning. That might change, might not. We'll see if any changes need to happen as time goes on.